Mass rapid transit system changes turnstiles to gates

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 10, 2006. It reports that the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in Taipei City recently introduced a new station entry/exist mechanism that opens like a door.

The new mechanism will provide a more convenient service to the disabled, the elderly and those commuters who carry a lot of bags or luggage. To comply with the mechanism, one-way magnetic MRT cards will be replaced by tokens with IC cards placed inside, which can be used as much as 34,000 times and is hard to forge.

The new mechanism is equipped with a detector that will prevent the gate from opening if two people attempt to use it at the same time. It will replace all the turnstiles at the city's 104 MRT stations by August 2007.